Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

I recently titled my "Recipe" board "To Make" because I love taking down pins of recipes I've already made.  Checking things off of your To-Do (or in this case, to make) list is so satisfying.

That being said, this recipe is one that has been on my "To Make" board for about 6 months now.  Banana cream pie became stuck in my head after hearing Mike and Tom talk about it on their podcast "MATES."  Since then, I had been dying to make one, and a Saturday night at home warranted the occasion.

Once you master making a custard filling, it opens up a door to a whole new world of desserts.  The key to the perfect custard is to go slow and whisk constantly!  If you boil the milk or add the warm milk to the eggs too quickly, you could risk scorching your milk or curdling your eggs (respectively).  Keep your milk over medium-low heat and add it to your eggs about 1/4 of a cup at a time.  It's incredibly trying on those of us who are not patient but believe me, you do not want to rush this.  Also, make sure you're whisking constantly, even if it is a pain.  This will keep your custard silky and smooth.  I mean, who would want to bite into a lumpy custard?  It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it...


Also, just a word of warning, when you have your milk/egg mixture over heat it's going to thicken up rather suddenly.  I was lackadaisically swirling the whisk around the pot when I noticed a clump was starting to form in the middle of the pot.  At that point, you want to make sure you're whisking consistently and somewhat rapidly.  You want it to thicken up smoothly without any lumps.

I have to admit, when I was spooning the custard into a bowl I was a little skeptical.  I had never made custard before, so I didn't know what to make of the smell and consistency of the goopy stuff I had just made.  So I decided to have a little taste.  At first, I didn't taste anything, but then this slightly sweet taste started to come, and before I knew it I was licking the pot clean.  The custard is not eggy at all, and using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar makes for a very rich custard.

The pie is just lovely.  For a cream pie, it's not heavy at all, and the custard is so silky and decadent.  Also, there's nothing quite like homemade whipped cream, and with this recipe, you'll have some left over for dipping fruit in and putting on your ice cream.  The strawberries are such a nice touch to the pie since they add a tiny bit of tartness.  This pie was wonderful and I know it will make an appearance again this summer.  Or maybe even as early as Mother's Day.

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

Yield: 1 9-in. pie

Prep Time: 45 min + 1 hour (at least) in fridge

Ingredients

For the filling:

-     2 c whole milk

-     6 large egg yolks

-     ½ c brown sugar

-     1/3 c cornstarch

-     pinch of salt

-     1 tsp vanilla extract

-     3 tbsp unsalted butter

To assemble the pie:

-     1 graham cracker pie crust

-     2 bananas, sliced

-     ½ lb strawberries, sliced

For the topping*:

-     2 c (1 pint) whipping cream

-     4 tbsp powdered sugar

-     2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

To make the filling, bring the milk to a slow boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.

In a separate, larger saucepan (not over heat), whisk the egg yolks together with the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt until well blended and thick.  Drizzle about ¼ of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to warm the eggs slowly.  Slowly add the rest of the milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly.  Be careful not to let the eggs curdle. 

Place the saucepan with the egg and milk mixture over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly.  Allow the mixture to boil, still whisking, for 1 minute and then remove from heat.  The mixture should be thick and creamy.

Whisk in the vanilla extract and then let stand for 5 minutes.  Whisk in the butter, stirring constantly until the butter is incorporated.  Transfer the custard to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, allowing the plastic wrap to touch the surface of the custard so a skin doesn’t form on the top.  Refrigerate until cold throughout (at least one hour but preferably overnight). 

To assemble the pie, layer the bananas and then the strawberries along the bottom of the graham cracker pie crust.  Mash the left over banana slices and stir into the custard.  Pour the custard into the pie shell and smooth.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

To make the whipped topping, beat the whipping cream until it starts to thicken.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.  Store in the refrigerator if not serving immediately.

When ready to serve the pie, spread the whipped topping on the pie and top with any left over sliced strawberries.  Serve pie immediately or refrigerate.  Pie will last 2 – 3 days. 

*Note: this makes more whipped topping than you will need for the pie, but you can always use it as a topping for fruit, ice cream, pastries, etc. or store in the freezer for use later.

Adapted from Joy the Baker

6 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 4:51 PM

Pecan Pie

So I wanted to get this recipe up before Thanksgiving, but I think we all know how life tends to get in the way.  However, I believe pecan pie can be served any time of the year, and after making this recipe for Thanksgiving I will definitely be making it again for Christmas.

Pecan pie is hands down my favorite pie of all time.  Unfortunately, we never seem to eat it because the more popular and easier to make pumpkin pie and apple pie seem to take precedence in our holiday dessert spreads.  Compared to those recipes, this recipe looks very involved and complicated but believe me, it's not.  Just make sure you read through it before you plan to make it since you'll need to let the pie dough firm up in the refrigerator for about an hour, let it bake in the oven for about 20 - 30 minutes, and then bake the actual pie for about an hour.  But when you dig into this pie and taste the filling you'll realize it's so worth it.

This is the first time I rolled out an actual pie crust and it went (surprisingly) well.  I just put the pie dough in the center of this mat I got from Wilton and continued to roll out the dough, turning it as needed, until all sides reached the 12" mark.  If some parts of the dough were going over the mark, I'd just tear that piece off and use some water to attach it to another part of the circle that wasn't quite 12".

To transfer your dough to a pie plate, you simply roll it over the rolling pin and then unroll it over the pie plate.  I may be using the term "simply" loosely, since after multiple attempts at doing this the correct way, I basically ended up picking up my dough and tossing it into the pie plate.  You could also turn your pie plate upside down on top of the dough and flip your dough over with the pie plate.

Once you have your dough securely in the pie plate, simply press down the sides and bottoms of the dough to make sure there is no air trapped underneath the crust.  Then you go around the edges and fold the overhang underneath itself to create a ridge.  You can make a little design in that edge however you like.  I created this simple crimped design by placing my index and middle fingers on the outside of the crust and my thumb between my two fingers on the inside of the crust and pinched.  The act of pushing your thumb forward and index and middle fingers back creates this fluted edge.

The pie crust needs to be pre-baked, so before you put the unbaked crust in the oven you need to cover it with tinfoil and then fill it with either pie weights or dried beans/rice, which are so much cheaper.  Plus you can save the beans to use as pie weights over and over.  Baking the crust beforehand ensures that it keeps its shape when you fill it and bake it again later.  Also, make sure that the foil is flush against the edges as well or else you'll lose that pretty crimped design you made when the pie begins to bake.

The filling comes together in minutes.  Simply pour it into the center of the crust, brush egg wash over the crust to prevent it from burning, and place the pie back in the oven.  After about 45 minutes, test if the filling is set by seeing if it springs back when touched.  Oh and use a spoon, the pie is going to be super hot...

This pie may seem very involved, but believe me it is incredibly worth the time.  The filling is rich but not too heavy and incredibly luscious.  It would be the perfect thing to bring to a holiday party and I really look forward to making this again for Christmas.

Oh hey, look who came to join us.

This is a nightly occurrence at our dinner table.


Pecan Pie

Yield: 1 9-in pie

Ingredients

-                Pie Dough (frozen, mix, or made from scratch).

-                6 tbsp unsalted butter

-                1 c brown sugar

-                ½ tsp salt

-                3 eggs, lightly beaten

-                ¾ c light corn syrup

-                1 tbsp vanilla extract

-                2 c pecans, toasted and chopped

Directions

Prepare the crust and refrigerate for one hour.  If using a frozen crust, let defrost in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out onto a floured work surface until it is 12 in. wide and about 1/8 in. thick.  Roll dough around rolling pin and unroll over a pie plate, leaving a ½ in. overhang around the pie plate.  Press dough into bottom and sides of pie plate.  Fold the overhang underneath itself and crimp the edges of the dough as desired.  Using a fork, prick the dough all over the bottom and sides of the pie plate.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  *Note: if at any point during this process your dough becomes too soft put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 

When the dough is firm, remove from refrigerator and line pie crust with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake the crust for 15 minutes.  Remove foil or parchment and weights and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven.

While the pie crust is baking, begin to melt butter in a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan.  You want the water to be barely simmering.  Mix in sugar and salt and stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved.  Remove pan/bowl from heat and beat in the eggs (but leave about 2 tbsp in the bowl for the egg wash), corn syrup, and vanilla extract.  Return the bowl to the hot water and stir until the mixture is shiny and hot throughout, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in about 1 ½ c of the pecans. 

After removing the crust from the oven, decrease the oven temperature to 275F and pour the pecan mixture into the pie crust.  Sprinkle remaining chopped pecans on top.  Brush egg wash over crust and place pie in the oven and bake until the filling is set and springs back to the touch (use a spoon!).  Baking time should take 45 – 55 minutes.  Remove pie from oven and allow to cool completely so the filling can set. 

Slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

6 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 7:07 PM